


The Boy with the Thorn in His Side

by Lothiriel84



Category: MarsCorp (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Bullying, Gen, Kid Fic, Mild Language, Pre-Canon, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 08:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15215309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lothiriel84/pseuds/Lothiriel84
Summary: How can they look into my eyesAnd still they don't believe me?





	The Boy with the Thorn in His Side

He turned around the corner and sped down the corridor, cursing under his breath as he promptly realised it was a dead end. Just his luck, he thought to himself – those Blue Bitches were going to beat him to a pulp, and there was nothing he could do to stop that from happening.

“Up here,” a child’s voice piped up from somewhere just above his head. “In the air vents, quick.”

He could hear the sound of footsteps approaching, didn’t need to be told twice as he grasped the hand reaching down for him, and somehow managed to scramble his way up and into the narrow duct opening. His mysterious rescuer gestured for him to close the grate back at the entrance, all while putting his finger to his lips to signal that he should make as little noise as possible.

Holding his breath, he peered down through the grating, heaved a soft sigh of relief as he watched his pursuers briefly discuss their options before heading off in a different direction.

“Thanks, man,” he nodded at his ersatz friend, who smiled briefly and returned his attention to the notebook that was lying open in front of him.

“What are you doing up here, anyway?” he added at length, mentally resigning himself to lying low long enough for those girls to get bored and give up on the chase.

“Drawing,” the boy replied with a shrug. “The teacher said it’s not something I should do in class, and my parents just confiscate any scrapbook of mine they can find.”

He glanced down at the sketches covering the pages, couldn’t help but recoil in horror at the sight of those terrifying creatures sporting a disturbing quantity of eyes and limbs.

“What on Mars are those – monsters?”

The boy looked up long enough to nearly meet his gaze. “They’re not monsters. These are some species of insects that used to populate the Earth, back in the old days – they were mostly harmless, and some of them incredibly useful to humankind too.”

“Right,” he conceded somewhat reluctantly, suddenly a little uneasy about being crammed in a tight space with that weird little boy and his (hopefully imaginary) multi-legged friends. He had to be another of those Blue Lunatics, he reasoned to himself, observing his neatly pressed school uniform that actually fit his size; thank the Shareholders he looked both too slight to get the better of him in a fight, and too young to really care about colour status.

“Don’t worry, none of them live here,” the boy quickly reassured him, his smile a little too sweet to be completely genuine. “Which is a pity, really, but it’s probably for the best.”

He cleared his throat somewhat uncomfortably, his grumbling stomach reminding him that his bullies had also stolen his lunch box, and he didn’t need to check to know he had no tokens left either. The boy glanced up for the fraction of a second, then put down his pen and started rummaging in his uniform pockets.

“Here, have some of these. The nice woman at the sweet shop gave them to me for free.”

His eyes widened as he contemplated the heap of candies and assorted confectioneries the boy had just deposited in front of him. He had never seen that many in his entire life, let alone knew what most of those tasted like.

“Are they – poisoned, or something?”

The boy frowned, as if considering the possibility. “I don’t think so, no. Why should they be?”

“Never mind. Can I really have some?”

“You can have them all. I don’t really care much for sweets.”

He snatched a handful of boiled sweets, eagerly unwrapped them before stuffing them in his mouth. “You’re a strange boy,” he declared around a mouthful of deliciously sugary candy. “But thanks anyway.”

The boy smiled again, only a little less forced this time around. “You’re welcome. You shouldn’t be eating them all in one go, though – you’re going to get sick if you do.”

“I don’t care,” he shrugged, turning his attention to a bar of half-melted chocolate. “At least I’ll finally have a good excuse for skipping school.”

The boy shook his head, picked up his pen, and simply resumed drawing.


End file.
